UPDATE 3:45 p.m.: Contractor Lee Cowper testified that Billy Williams instructed him to bill the ABC Board if he wanted to recoup the full costs of constructing a detached two-story garage at his Wilmington home.

“The gist of what he said was if I was going to get paid I needed to bill it to the ABC system,” Cowper testified Tuesday afternoon, although he added he could not remember Williams’ exact words.

The garage apartment was the third project Cowper agreed to do for Williams at his home. He previously did kitchen and bathroom renovations for Williams and added a sun room to his home.

Each of those projects went over the original cost estimate because Williams asked for changes, Cowper testified. Williams did not pay the full costs in any of those occasions, he said.

Cowper said he absorbed the losses because Williams was one of his most important customers and he did not want to lose future contracts for ABC stores in the Wilmington area.

“That was just absorbed by the company as a loss. Mr Wiliams was one of my very best customers and I was scared that if I didn’t cooperate with him he would withdraw (my bids),” Cowper testified.

But by the third time Williams refused to pay the full costs of constructions, Cowper said he had grown angry and frustrated.

“By now, by the third time, I was really mad. I felt like I had been used and taken advantage of,” he said.

Cowper’s testimony will continue this afternoon. He still must be cross-examined by defense attorneys.

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UPDATE 1 p.m.: Morning testimony has wrapped up. The first witness, Junior Moore, worked as a superintendent for contractor Lee Cowper on the project constructing Billy Williams’ garage.

He mainly testified about the additional work Williams requested, such as hardwood flooring in the garage apartment, an outdoor staircase and a shower under the stair case.

occasion, the installation of a fence, did he give Williams an estimate of costs. He said Cowper was in charge of quoting any price changes to Williams.

Moore characterized Williams as being firm when he wanted project changes.

“When he made up his mind he wanted something, he would ask me to do it and I would carry it out,” Moore said.

Moore also worked on the construction of the ABC store in Wrightsville Beach, he testified. He did not work on the Porters Necks — which is the project Cowper has admitted to submitting a fake invoice for.

Testimony will begin again at 2 p.m. after the court’s lunch break.

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UPDATE 11 a.m: “What Billy Williams wants, he gets.” That summed up the attitude prosecutors attributed to Williams in the construction of New Hanover County ABC stores and improvements to his own home.

Assistant District Attorney Tom Old argued during his opening statements that Williams had near complete control of operations at the ABC store after decades working there and approved all invoices.

His felony charge of obtaining property by false pretense sounds complicated, “but put very simply we will prove that this individual approved a fictitious invoice,” Old said.

Contractor Lee Cowper already had completed a bathroom and kitchen renovation for Williams before agreeing to construct a two-story detached garage at his Wilmington home, Old said. Williams only paid $19,000 for $51,000 of work after asking for numerous changes, Old said.

That was the way Williams handled ABC store construction as well — constantly asking for additions and upgrades, Old said.

during his opening arguments that Williams did not know the fake invoice Cowper submitted was for work on the garage at his home.

He said Cowper admitted in federal court to devising the scheme when he pleaded guilty earlier this year to mail fraud.

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9: 55 a.m.: Opening arguments are about to begin in the trial of Billy Williams, the former administrator of New Hanover County’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

There was some brief drama this morning in the court when a juror was dismissed for being ill. That left the jury with no alternates.

The attorneys and judge decided to go forward despite the risk. A decision cannot be made in the case if any other jurors become ill or are dismissed for any other reason.

The only other options the court had were either having the sheriff bring in potential jurors from the street or summoning a whole new panel of jurors. Each would have taken most of Tuesday and possibly beyond.

I think 1- That Billy should PAY for the trial!! Pay for the garage!! And sit his sorry azz behind bars for a while. The trail should not have been moved at all.. He wanted it moved because he knew he SCREWED the people in New Hanover BIG TIME!! He is just SORRY He got cought. And his Son also…

One of the good Old Miller Building boys. Cowper should know first hand about shaking down subs. Now He knows how it feels, except He crossed the line. Billy Williams and His son, both shake down artist. Even Bradley Williams is playing the system.

Publicly funded projects are normally required to hire a design professional (architect/engineer) who is a third party to review and approve invoices. It is an important check and balance that obviously failed this time. Would that be because the design professional missed this, or felt the same pressures Cowper alludes to? Or did Williams negligently skip hiring someone else to look over his shoulder?

Seems as though a lot of the public bid laws were circumvented from the beginning in the way they did business. Is this being investigated too?

The jobs were never bid out correctly anyway, they are both crooks. This was not the only time they did this they stole from taxpayers and at the end of the day they are still gonna be fat hogs collecting fat paychecks.

About This Blog

Welcome to Legal Briefs, where you will find all kinds of information about the happenings in southeastern North Carolina’s court systems. The blog will cover cases in the federal Eastern District of North Carolina and in Pender, Brunswick and New Hanover counties. Whether it’s an arraignment, trial, sentencing or some other court proceeding, Legal Briefs will keep you informed and up to date.

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F.T. Norton, courts reporter, came to the Wilmington StarNews from the Nevada Appeal in Carson City, Nev., where she covered courts and cops for more than a decade.

Before that, F.T. was an active-duty Army public information specialist.

The mother of twins in their senior year of high school, F.T.. fancies herself a news junkie and true crime fanatic. In her off time she surfs the internet, watches too much reality TV and yells a lot at her weinerjacks, (half-dachshund/half-Jack Russell) Lucy and Moose.